Prognosis and guideline-adherent antithrombotic treatment in patients with atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter: implications of undertreatment and overtreatment in real-life clinical practice; the Loire Valley Atrial Fibrillation Project.

Background: In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), adherence to guidelines for antithrombotic treatment is poorly followed, and undertreatment (or nonadherence with guidelines) is associated with a worse prognosis. The study objective was to evaluate whether this was also the case in a large contemporary series of unselected patients with AF in real-world clinical practice.

Methods: All patients with AF or atrial flutter seen in our institution between 2000 and 2007 were identified in a database and followed up for mortality and stroke.

Antithrombotic treatment and the risk of death and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation and a CHADS2 score=1.

In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and an intermediate risk of stroke (CHADS2 score =1), available evidence from clinical trials is inconclusive and the present guidelines for the management of AF indicate that the choice between oral anticoagulant and aspirin in these patients is open. Our goal was to evaluate whether, in patients with AF and only one moderate risk factor for thromboembolism, treatment with an oral anticoagulant is appreciably more beneficial than treatment with an antiplatelet agent. Among 6,517 unselected patients with AF, 1,012 of them (15.

Comparison of beta blocker and digoxin alone and in combination for management of patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure.

In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF), beta blockers and digoxin reduce the ventricular rate, but controversy exists concerning how these drugs affect prognosis in this setting. This study compared the effects of beta blocker and digoxin on mortality in patients with both AF and HF. In a single-center institution, patients with AF and HF seen between January 2000 and January 2004 were identified and followed until September 2007.